Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has rejected claims that his recent visit to Ukraine constituted a betrayal of Belgrade’s friendly ties with Russia.
Vucic attended the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Odessa on Wednesday, where he met with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. According to Reuters, it was his first trip to the country in his 12 years in office.
“Who did I betray? Russia? With what, exactly?” Vucic asked, responding to a reporter’s question. He added that he had refused to sign the summit’s final declaration, which condemned Russia and expressed support for Ukraine’s NATO aspirations.
“This was my fourth Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, and once again, I was the only one who refused to endorse the declaration,” he said.
Vucic stressed that Serbia seeks to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. “I am proud of Serbia’s policy and our independence, and that will not change.”
Serbia remains one of the few European countries that has declined to impose sanctions on Russia or openly side with Ukraine in the ongoing conflict. Vucic previously stated that the EU pressured Belgrade to abandon its neutral stance and sever ties with Moscow.
Late last month, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused several major Serbian defense firms – including the state-owned Yugoimport-SDPR – of covertly supplying ammunition to Ukraine through third countries, using falsified end-user certificates. Vucic denied the accusations and vowed that Serbia would not allow any circumvention of end-user requirements in weapons contracts.
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